S1.Ep18 "Pretty River Valley" - Hiking The Bruce Trail End To End : A Journey Across Ontario

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Season 1, Episode 18 : “Pretty River Valley”
Saving the best to last – in this the 18th and 2nd last episode of Season One covering the first half of the Bruce Trail, we had one of the most beautiful and epic hikes of them all. 30km across the landscape, bursting with sunshine and fall color.
The day started off quite differently though, it was October 31st and it was a chilly and damp 5 degrees Celsius to start the day with a short road walk before we veered off into a proper trail. Mud was a theme of the day.
With some great views starting to appear the landscape was beautiful despite the weather. But on one of our first great overlooks of the day we saw some blue sky opening up on the horizon. A good sign of things to come.
This was one of the few times we took a side trail diversion from the Bruce Trail – that was to go through the “Standing Rock and Caves Side Trail”. It leads to the same spot as the Bruce Trail section, is much more interesting and challenging and not any shorter so that’s what we did. A great decision as we weaved through great crevasses and channels which led to a dynamic and powerful rock wall “room”. Through a small crack we made our way out of the labyrinth and broke out into the shining sunshine that had emerged from behind the clouds.
Hard to describe the beautiful autumn scene – next level beauty.
We descended into the Pretty River Valley slipping and sliding all the way down in the mud. At the valley floor the hillsides and clouds, blue sky and autumn colors were truly mesmerizing. But the best was still yet to come.
We made it to the Pretty River which was, pretty, and then headed up the other side of the valley up seemingly endless hills and alongside a gorgeous mountain stream. Eventually we reached the top and came upon the best views so far on the Bruce Trail – and our first good look at Georgian Bay – that of Osler Bluffs. Astounding.
Almost as if choreographed (the whole hike felt like this), the November winds started blowing in as soon as we left the scenic bluffs and we pushed our aching bodies further as the sun began to set.
We made it to the Blue Mountain Ski Resort, where we would end the day overlooking the lake and the bay, setting up our final hike of season one – through the Blue Mountains and to the half way point of the trail (and beyond).
In Season Two I hope to finish the trail, and episodes will launch weekly starting in November of 2022 if all goes well.
Season one ends in a dramatic cliffhanger with the last episode - Episode 19 : “The Blue Mountains Mystery”. Don’t miss it!

Notes
Season One covers the first 450 km of the trail from Niagara to Collingwood and is 19 Episodes – airing weekly, every Tuesday from Nov.9th 2021 to March 15th 2022 on YouTube, Rumble, CloutHub, BitChute and Minds.
Visit SteveWelchOntario.com for more information, links to episodes, and music from the series.
Comments are welcome – Have you hiked this area? Are there other good trails nearby? Do you live in the area and have stories to share? Old escarpment legends or family history? What influence has the Niagara Escarpment and the Bruce Trail had in your life? It would be great to hear as well from those around the world who love to get outside and enjoy and appreciate the incredible landscape.
Thanks as always to the many people, past, present and future who work tirelessly to create, maintain and improve our trail systems. And thanks to the landowners who share their beautiful land. It is very much appreciated.

Details:
Bruce Trail Reference Guide Maps: 22-24
Total Bruce Trail Map Distance : 31 km
Step Counter Distance 33 km
Music from the Episode:
“More Time” from the album “Upland”
“We Found Love” featuring Prosad on Sitar, recorded at Turtleshell Studio, Breslau Ontario
“Joy” and “And Humbly So” from the Retro Archives
and “The Hard Truth”, unreleased from the “Upland” sessions.
Intro : “Things Are Happening” and “Alive Healthy and Free” from the album Upland
Outro : “Algorithm” from the album Upland
Individual songs $0.99, Upland Album $9.99 (16 songs)
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Available at : Steve Welch (stevewelchontario.com)
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